San Francisco

San Francisco 3, Dodgers 2 AT THE PLATE: The Dodgers had more walks (eight) than hits (six), dropping their spring average to .228. Yasiel Puig, who had a hit and was robbed of another, is hitting only .200, which is still better than A.J. Ellis (.105), Scott Van Slyke (.167) and Chone Figgins (.143). ON THE MOUND: Clayton Kershaw, selected Sunday as the opening-day starter, had his best outing of the spring, giving up two runs and five hits in five innings. But reliever Red Patterson struggled in his two innings, giving up a run and two hits and walking four.

Stop me if you've heard this one: Billionaire comes to City Hall. Says that if the city will get behind him, he'll bring a major sports enterprise to town and might even renovate some decrepit municipal infrastructure as part of the bargain. Huge economic boost foreseen. Won't cost taxpayers a dime. Sounds like Phil Anschutz, the NFL and the Los Angeles Convention Center, doesn't it? But it's not: We're talking about software billionaire Larry Ellison, the America's Cup sailing race and a few rotting bayside piers in San Francisco.

The way San Francisco takes advantage of its bountiful water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir would make John Muir weep. The iconic naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club fought mightily to prevent the damming of one of the most beautiful valleys in Yosemite National Park nearly 100 years ago, but lost. And there are reasons to think that the city that benefits from this extraordinary federal largesse isn't abiding by one of the few restrictions placed on its water use. The 1913 federal law that gave San Francisco its special deal also made it clear that the city was to take no more Hetch Hetchy water than it needed to "for its beneficial use for domestic and other municipal purposes.

The odyssey of 5-year-old Miles, known across the Internet as the SF Batkid today, just took an even more surreal turn when President Barack Obama got in on the action Friday. The president sent the kid a congratulatory message via Vine. "Way to go, Miles. Way to save Gotham," Obama said in a message recorded from the White House. Miles, who has leukemia that is currently in remission, had requested a day as Batman from the San Francisco chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A controversial luxury waterfront development project was soundly defeated Tuesday, an apparent victim of skyrocketing housing prices that have generated anxiety over just who gets to live in a city long identified with tolerance and diversity. The project that would have risen from a port-owned parking lot and the site of a private tennis and swimming club near the city's towering financial district -- across from the iconic Ferry Building -- had won approvals from the Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and state entities that oversee waterfront development.

Stocks have crashed, industry is shuddering and banks are failing. The restless unemployed will soon fill the streets. Yet in San Francisco, some crazed optimist in the Pacific Stock Exchange Tower has hired Diego Rivera to decorate a private club for stockbrokers. Could this be the most doomed, stupid idea of all 1930? Here is Rivera, an intermittent communist who'd met with Stalin in Russia only two years before, perched on the scaffolding above the financial titans of Sansome Street.

We were looking for a restaurant within walking distance of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and found a great spot that even our local friends didn't know about. We all raved about its empanadas, roasted chicken and sangria. Its ceviche was the best I have had outside of Peru. The servers made us all feel like regulars. Call for reservations if more than two, because there are only a few large tables and a few seats at the lovely bar. La Fusion, 475 Pine St., (415) 781-0894, http://www.lafusion-sf.com D. Kay Renick Ventura